Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore’s first labor protest
since the 1980s led to the deportation of 29 Chinese bus
drivers yesterday and the prosecution of five others,
highlighting the difficulty balancing a workforce reliant on
foreign employees.

More than 170 bus drivers failed to report for duty on Nov.
26, while 88 halted work the next day, according to SMRT Corp.,
Singapore’s biggest subway operator and one of its two main bus
companies. The striking workers, all from China, were unhappy
with their salary increments and raised concerns about living
conditions, SMRT said.

The deportations and strike show the perceived inequality
among workers on an island reliant on foreign labor with
limited union representation. In a city with 3.3 million
citizens and 2 million foreigners, complaints about overseas
workers depriving locals of jobs and driving up home prices
helped opposition parties win record support in last year’s
general elections.

The incident indicates that Singapore’s model “may not
have kept up with its changing industrial landscape,” said
Eugene Tan, a Singapore Management University assistant law
professor and a non-elected lawmaker who has limited voting
rights. It raises the question of whether workers are
adequately represented and how to maintain harmonious
industrial relations when workers are segmented, he said
yesterday.

Singapore completed the deportations between 12.15 a.m.
and 4:35 p.m. local time yesterday, according to an e-mailed
statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs late yesterday.

“They were cooperative and the process took place without
incident,” it said. “People’s Republic of China Embassy
officials, as well as SMRT staff, assisted in the repatriation
exercise.”

‘Highly Concerned’

China previously said it was “highly concerned” about
the arrest of its citizens.

The bus drivers facing charges could be imprisoned for as
long as a year for taking part in an “illegal strike” that
disrupted “industrial harmony,” according to statements
posted to Singapore government websites. Four were arrested and
charged, while the fifth pleaded guilty to participating in the
strike and was sentenced to six weeks’ jail today, according to
Channel NewsAsia, citing Senior District Judge See Kee Oon.

Labor protests in Singapore are rare and unions have
limited scope for industrial action as the government
encourages consultative relations between employers and workers.

In 2004, Ryan Goh, a pilot at Singapore Airlines Ltd., the
national carrier, was singled out by the government as the
instigator in a disagreement on wages, and failed in his appeal
to retain his Singapore permanent residency status, the Straits
Times reported at the time.

Drivers’ Grievances

“We are disappointed that it took a strike to bring to
the forefront the bus drivers’ grievances about their pay and
living conditions,” the opposition Workers’ Party said in a
Nov. 30 statement. “SMRT must address legitimate concerns that
have been raised by all its bus drivers since the recent
revision of salaries and work hours.”

Among SMRT’s drivers from China, only 10 percent are union
members, according to a Straits Times report on Nov. 30, citing
unidentified labor union officials. The newspaper said the
strike, the first in the city since 1986, was to protest
against what they saw as low wages compared to Malaysian
drivers, and poor living conditions.

While the workers’ actions were wrong, SMRT “could have
done better in managing their labor grievances,” Tan Chuan-Jin,
acting minister for manpower, said in a speech received by e-mail on Dec. 1. “SMRT must take steps to ensure that a severe
breakdown in labor relations like what we saw this week does
not happen again.”

Police Warnings

The four drivers are charged with conspiring to instigate
a strike by workers employed by SMRT Buses Ltd., according to
charge sheets filed at the city’s Subordinate Court.

Police warnings will be issued to the remaining drivers
with no other action taken by the government as “they showed
remorse over their actions, or were even coerced into
participating,” according to the Ministry of Manpower.

Strikes are illegal for workers in Singapore’s essential
services unless their employers are given two weeks’ notice,
according to the Manpower Ministry.

The 29 bus drivers will be paid before they leave the
country, SMRT said on Dec. 1, along with pro-rated bonuses.

“It was most unfortunate that events and sentiments had
culminated to the point of an illegal strike,” Desmond Kuek,
chief executive of SMRT, said in an address to Chinese-national
drivers today, according to a transcript of his remarks. “We
have acknowledged that our managers and supervisors down the
line could have been more sensitive and responsive to your
needs. We will address this shortcoming with priority.”